Christmas Eve Meditations 

Luke 2 ¹In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. ² This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³ All went to their own towns to be registered. ⁴ Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. ⁵ He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child  

Time for Taxes

Imagine combining Christmas travel and April 15^th, tax time.  All the hassles of getting home, wherever that might be, just so you could pay your taxes.  Airport crowds and canceled flights.  Icy roads with winter blizzards.  No early or late travel to avoid the crowds.   No tax services to do it for you.  Nothing but stress, delays, inconveniences.  The last thing we would want to do is take on more stress, the stress of unnecessary changes.  If it weren't absolutely critical, we'd put it off until another time. 

God did not wait for a good time; an easy time to arrive as the Baby Jesus.  The world needed Jesus in the very midst of its stress and inconveniences.  Joseph and Mary traveled home, to register for tax time.  They did not, could not wait until it was convenient.

      We need him in the very midst of our world that is also full of stress and inconveniences.

      Let us enjoy this time of peace tonight and make time, each day, in the midst of our stress, for the arrival of the Savior, the Savior that we need. 

⁶ While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.  

Time for Life

I love the mountains.  Every time I look at them they are different: different colors as the seasons change, different shadows as the day progresses.  Always something new that I hadn't noticed before.  For me, the mountains are a symbol of God's majesty.  How much greater than the mountains must be our Creator.  I also love crosses.  Simple wood crosses against a white background or on a remote hill top.  Old carved stone crosses like I saw in Ireland.  They are a symbol of God's love for me.  Reading Scripture is always new; I always find new truths, new relationships between the word of God and where I am in my life. 

But God is not a mountain or a cross, or even Scripture.  God is not a lifeless object.  God is alive. 

God came to live with us as the baby Jesus.  God is not some distant being who does not know what it is like to be human.  Jesus knew the love of a mother and father, the instruction of his parents, being part of a family.  Jesus in turn loves us as individuals, me and you and you.  Jesus loves us as family.  For through his life and death he welcomed us into the family of God. 

Because God is alive, we can know and worship this living and loving God. 

⁸ In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see--I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹ to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” ¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 

Time to Go

In the dark of night, bright lights appear.  Searingly bright lights: the glory of God.  An angel appears.  We hear the words but often fail to understand.  Perhaps we have become so used to movie images and special effects that we have lost our sense of wonder, even our sense of fear.  Have you ever noticed that invariably the first thing that an angel says in Scripture is “Fear not!”?  I wonder if the angel would have to convince me to come out from behind the nearest rock or wherever else I tried to hide when those lights appeared. 

Yet, the shepherds did not flee, they were calmed by the words of the angel.  Even more, they listened and reacted.  They believed the words, they were words of great hope and joy for all people.   

The shepherds could not see Jesus from the fields.  They had to go to the manger to find this baby, the Messiah, the Lord.  They got up from the fields and reacted to this great message about the coming of God which the Lord had made known to them. 

Today, we are still called to do likewise.  We are called to go, to see Jesus, to react to what God has made known to us. 

¹⁷ When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.  

Time to Treasure

Not only did the shepherds go and see the baby Jesus, they went and told others about this child.  God had told them what to look for, and they found it just as the angel of God had described.  They couldn't help but tell others about this good news, about this birth of a special baby in Bethlehem.  Again, we have heard this story before.  It is a story we love to hear again.  But it has become somewhat like the evening news - we are no longer amazed.  We know the story, we know how it will be presented, we even get to know the 'newscaster' who will retell the story. 

Because we have heard the story so often, we fail to be amazed.  All who heard the shepherds were amazed.  Amazed at the angel.  Amazed at this special baby, the Messiah.  Amazed that the promises that God had made so long ago had been fulfilled that night, in that little town, in that little baby. 

We should be equally amazed today, amazed that God is at work in this world, at work in our lives, at work in our hearts.  It is just as amazing today as it was then; God's presence is just as desperately needed today as then. 

Mary treasured all these things in her heart.  Can you image what it was like to be Mary?  To have an angel appear and tell her that she would become pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit?  That the baby she would bear was to be called Jesus, the Son of the Most High?  And then to accept this all and reply to the angel “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”  Amazingly, Joseph did not turn her away but stayed by her, saving her life. 

Then to visit her cousin Elizabeth and be greeted with “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?”  

And now Mary has had to travel to Bethlehem.  Pregnant, expecting to give birth at any moment.  No hospital birthing room, not even room at the inn.  Giving birth among the animals and placing her son in a manger.  Can you imagine that?

Shepherds appearing, directed by angels to come and see the good news for all people.  Spreading the amazing word that the Savior had been born.   

And Mary, Mary treasured these things in her heart.   

This Christmas, let us take time in spite of our busy schedules to go where God directs us, now; not wait until the time when it is convenient.  Let us understand that God is alive in our very midst; that it is a living and loving God who we worship.  A God willing to be born as a baby, grow to a man, give all, that we might understand how deep the love of God is for us, each of us.  Let us go to the manager and see the one who has come, the Son of the Most High.  Then let us go and tell the world about this incredible happening, tell everyone so that they too might be amazed at the love of God. 

And let us be like Mary.  Let us treasure all these things in our hearts.  For it is a treasure beyond comprehension that we have been given, given freely by our Loving Father.  Let us treat this gift of faith, this gift of life, this gift of promises fulfilled, as a life changing treasure.  For truly, it is a treasure that does change our lives and our very beings. 

Thanks be to God! 

Go now in the peace of the Lord,

Rejoicing in the love of the Father

Filled with amazement and peace and joy.

As the light of Jesus shines into the darkness of the world,

Let us treasure these things in our hearts.

And all of God's family said, AMEN! 

   

December 24, 2006

Pastor Al Hammond

First Presbyterian Church

Logan, Utah